How to Money

You won’t be surprised to hear that we’re critical of the consumeristic society we live in. Our culture wants us to believe that buying things will lead to greater levels of happiness. And maybe we’ve been convinced because 70% of the overall economy is driven by consumer spending. Here’s an alternate take though: our generation seems to value experiences more than stuff, but are experiences a bet...

Our guest today, Doug Nordman starts every morning by checking the surf forecast to see how he’s going to spend the day. He and his wife are financially independent and live on the island of Oahu, which is a surfer’s paradise! Doug was able to achieve this amazing life by taking advantage of the financial benefits offered to him by the military, as well as through standard practices like budgeting...

There will be declines in the stock market, and you’ll likely see the amount of money you have invested begin to drop. This is normal during a bear market- stay calm! It’s also OK to feel a little nervous. We are emotional creatures after all, and while it’s fine to feel a little anxious if you’re hemorrhaging money in your investments, it is NOT fine to react to these declines by selling and gett...

This week on the podcast we’re answering your questions! 1 - Should I continue to balance my checkbook every month, or is it a waste of time? 2 - I have 2 daughters who rarely drive- how can I reduce how much I spend on their car insurance? 3 - Should I purchase a primary residence or a couple investment properties instead? 4 - Is identity theft insurance worth the money? 5 - As a small business o...

Are you saving your money when instead you should be investing it? Or maybe you’ve been investing, but alternatively you should be saving! Folks get confused as those terms are often used interchangeably, but they are very different. For example, we call it “saving for retirement” when we are actually “investing for retirement.” Saving and investing are both important and have their place, and so...

Wanna sell your house for a lot of money? Then it would behoove you to listen to this interview! Our guest today, Mindy Jensen, is a licensed real estate agent in Colorado and has been buying and selling homes for about 20 years. And not only does she buy and sell them for her clients, but she’s an investor herself and specializes in live-in flips. Mindy works for BiggerPockets.com where she helps...

We live increasingly busy and complex lives and the same is true of our money. Repeatedly making smart money moves is hard. It’s easy for us to forget or just get plain lazy when it comes to doing the right thing with our funds. Between our different bank accounts, multiple credit cards, and debt obligations, it can be difficult for us to take action on a consistent basis that will have a long-las...

This week on the podcast we’re answering your questions! Our family has outgrown our current car so our multiple road trips every year are getting cramped. Should we purchase a new (used) car, or rent a larger vehicle as needed? Does the 5 year holding period apply to my contributions of my Roth IRA? Should I purchase pet insurance? I’d like to save up a down payment for a home but I’m also curren...

Personal levels of indebtedness are at all time highs in our country. Consumer spending is growing, student loans are ever-present, and car loans are becoming even more of an issue as consumers take out 72 and 84 month loans. The reality and feeling of drowning in debt is compounded when folks don’t know how to get out from underneath this crushing weight. Where do you even begin?! What we need is...

If you’re thinking about starting your own side hustle, then this episode is a #MustListen! Vincent Pugliese is a husband, dad, and a professional photographer who started out at making $15 an hour working for the local newspaper, to paying off $140,000 in debt in 4 years. Through his journey to become debt free, he discovered the power of being self-employed, and the impact it can have towards no...

We can only go so far with being frugal, before we venture into the realm of cheap. Now don’t get us wrong- frugality is a great tool in your personal finance swiss army knife. We’re frugal fellas ourselves, and we love seeing what money saving steps our friends and listeners are implementing into their lives, but frugality alone doesn’t cut it. There are times when you need to make larger cuts an...

This week on the podcast we’re answering your questions! 1 - I was overpaid by my employer, what should I do now? 2 - Should I convert my 401k into an IRA? What considerations should I keep in mind? 3 - I have some IRS debt. Should I prioritize my debt snowball or get after that tax debt owed to the IRS? 4 - What’s the deal with my savings account interest rate dropping? 5 - I have an ESPP that is...

For most normal people, personal finance is boring! There are many reasons why Americans have a really difficult time getting their money act together, but today we’re addressing the fact that we’d rather spend our time doing almost anything else. This is a problem as it takes intentional action for the rubber to meet the road and for our hopes and dreams to be turned into a debt slaying, wealth b...

It’s probably going to be hard, but waking up earlier this year can help you to get your personal finances in order! We’re excited to talk with our friend 5am Joel about how he got started waking up early and how this has impacted him personally. We both met Joel at a personal finance conference and immediately bonded over a mutual love of craft beer as well as talking about nerdy money things lik...

When 80% of folks report that they’re living paycheck to paycheck, it’s clear that this lack of margin in our lives is a major contributing factor to why we have some much stress in our lives. It’s true of our money and it’s true of our time as well. And with it being the new year, it’s easier to believe that a new and better narrative is possible- and it is! We have the power to change our previo...

This week on the podcast we’re answering your questions! 1 - Should I consider renting out a furnished spare room, and do I go about to vet possible roommates? 2 - How diversified are index funds? 3 - Can I use funds from a car loan to pay off some high interest credit card debt? 4 - When should I transition my side hustle to a legit small business and how do I start deducting my expenses come tax...

Merry Christmas and happy holidays! In the midst of all the festivities, now is a good time to ask ourselves: “Buying new stuff makes us happy, right?” Well if you have a need that is now being met, there is certainly some value that item is now providing. But value isn’t the same as happiness. Hedonic adaptation, or the hedonic treadmill, helps us understand the effect of consumption. Coming to g...

Our guest today is Keith Schroeder who began working in the backwoods of Wisconsin on a family farm fixing silo unloaders- not the kind of job most of us had growing up! But his passionate distaste for that work led him to file tax returns on the side and that hustle led to Keith being able to retire at age 22 however he didn’t stay retired for long. His tax preparation business exploded into a fu...

How we pay for things has a LOT of implications. Chances are whether you use “cash, debit, or credit” is more a result of habit than a thoughtful approach to your spending. “I use my check card because that’s just what I do- and it’s easy!”. But it’s important to note that some payment methods are more secure than others, while others provide better rewards, peace of mind, or might even cause you...

This week on the podcast we’re answering your questions! 1 - Should we go with a cash out mortgage refinance in order to pay off student loans? 2 - Can I contribute to a self employed retirement account while also contributing to my employer sponsored plan? 3 - What does it take to be a HUD landlord and how do I balance community renovation with gentrification? 4 - We have a lot of available credi...

Fees are a major pain and they’ve worked their way into so many different industries! We recently talked about travel lodging and discussed the annoyance of the countless fees that might get tacked on: resort fees are some of the most confusing, but parking and WiFi fees abound too! With fees becoming so prevalent across our financial lives, we need to be aware of how and when we encounter them so...

On average, we lose 3 hours of productivity every single day due to distractions! There are countless ways that we’re distracted in our lives today, and these distractions are keeping us from doing the things we truly need to do. MAYBE YOU’RE CURRENTLY DISTRACTED RIGHT NOW. It is very easy to allow ourselves to be constantly barraged by notifications, social media, or by email and these distractio...

When 99% of American companies are small businesses, it’s no exaggeration to say that these businesses are the backbone of our country. These startups have been responsible for almost all new job creation over the past 3 decades! And not only are small businesses important to our economy but they’re important to us on a personal level as well. These are the storefronts and people who make up our c...

This week on the podcast we’re answering your questions! 1 - Should I close a credit card that has a $40 annual fee? 2 - As a minor with my first job, where should I save and invest my money? 3 - How do I get my spouse on board using one of the budgeting apps? And with those apps are there any security concerns? 4 - I have a chunk of money that I plan to live off of in the coming years- where shou...

Before you’re tempted to rush out and pounce on those Black Friday deals: How amazing is it that we live in a world where there are so many ‘free’ things all around us? And how unfortunate it is, that we often don’t even see these ‘free’ resources because we’re so used to purchasing and consumption- we don’t even think to make use of them. Our technology and culture steers us in the direction to s...